From Endemics to Invasives: Freshwater Fish Conservation in the Caribbean

Summary: Bringing together fish researchers from throughout the Caribbean to discuss the most pressing conservation issues facing freshwater fish and habitats in the region.

Dr. Amy E Deacon. The University of the West Indies Trinidad and Tobago

Co-organiser 1: INGO SCHLUPP

Description: The symposium proposes to bring together fish researchers from throughout the Caribbean to discuss the most pressing conservation issues facing freshwater fish and habitats in the region. This will include discussions of conservation of endemic fish, as well as the strategies for dealing with freshwater invaders. Different Caribbean islands have much to learn from each other, and sharing experiences from across the region should prove extremely productive.

Keywords: biodiversity; endemic; invasive; freshwater; fish;

Justification: Caribbean islands support a high number of endemic freshwater fish, and at the same time are especially vulnerable to invasions. Trinidad is a hotspot for freshwater fish research, being the 'home of the guppy' and hosting hundreds of scientists each year in the natural laboratory of the Northern Range. However, other countries are far less studied, and we are only just beginning to learn about the diversity that exists. We hope that this symposium will bring together researchers from Trinidad as well as those working on less-studied assemblages and species to form productive collaborations, and raise awareness more broadly of freshwater fish in the region, which are often overshadowed by the marine fish that tend to characterise Caribbean biodiversity.

Symposium Length: 6 - Presentations total

Presentation 1: Diversity, habitat, and conservation of the Hispaniolan Poecilia clade.

Pablo Weaver

La Verne University, California

Presentation 2: Gambusia in Jamaica

Kerri-Ann Bennett

The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus

Presentation 3: Cuban freshwater fish

Rodet Rodriguez Silva

University of Oklahoma

Presentation 4: Caribbean Poeciliid Diversity

Ingo Schlupp

University of Oklahoma

Presentation 5: Invasive Guppies

Amy Deacon

The University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus

Presentation 6: TBC

TBC

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